Spanish treasures

The Madison Symphony Orchestra’s second program this season is titled “Troubadour: Two Faces of the Classical Guitar.” But the medieval courtly poet-singer was no guitarist, and the guest soloist, Sharon Isbin, is no “troubadour.”

A fine musician, Isbin has joined other guitarists nowadays who insist that their gentle instrument should be as strong as a trumpet for large halls. When last here, a few seasons ago with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, she brought along an arsenal of amplification equipment. Those and their effects are modified this time, but her instrument — to be sure, a true acoustical one, and not itself electronic — still sounds hollow and unreal, coming as if from another planet, while the orchestra down on earth plays real sounds.

Isbin brings two works. One, Affinity, a concerto by jazz pianist Dave Brubeck’s son Chris, was composed with her help. It noodles along for some 14 minutes, never coming up with any actual ideas or destination.

The genuine article was the first of several guitar concerts by Joaquín Rodrigo. Called Concierto de Aranjuez, it is named for and inspired by a Baroque pleasure palace near Madrid. Its three movements draw on traditional Spanish music to convey a picture both lively and thoughtful. It is mostly exchanges between guitar and orchestra, and Rodrigo knew well how to avoid letting the latter overwhelm the former. That doesn’t stop Isbin from wrecking the balances with her amplified sound.

Opening the program is the second of Aaron Copland’s three famous “American” ballets, Billy the Kid. Incorporating traditional songs into broad and vigorous sounds, these works for some time seemed to represent a truly national musical idiom. Maestro DeMain draws color and excitement from the suite drawn from this ballet.

The real meat of the program is its final work. again an outstanding “national” one, again Spanish. Manuel de Falla’s ballet El sombrero de tres picos (The Three-Cornered Hat) tells of an aging but lascivious magistrate’s efforts, comically foiled, to seduce a miller’s wife. Falla juxtaposed narrative music with the exploitation of traditional Spanish dances. Dance excerpts are familiar from concerts and recordings, but we rarely hear the full score — though some cuts are made here. DeMain revels in the pounding rhythms and riots of sound. There are two short songs, usually sung offstage; the program lists Isbin as singer but it is actually mezzo Anna Parks.

The program is repeated Saturday, Nov. 18, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 19, at 2:30 pm in Overture Hall.